Known for the kingdom's highest dunes, over 150 meters high. Merzouga is 570 km from Marrakech, a route filled with beautiful scenery combining snow-capped High Atlas mountains, rivers, oases, gorges and sand dunes.
Program
Day 1 - 330 km
The road to Merzouga passes through Boumalne Dades, the first stage of this tour to the great dunes. After a 2-hour drive through the High Atlas Mountains, a stop is made at the Tizi N'Tichka pass, one of the highest peaks in the Atlas Mountains at 2,260 m, before continuing on to Kasbah Ait Ben-Haddou, declared an international heritage site by UNESCO, for a guided tour of its narrow streets.
Lunch in the village of Ait Ben-Haddou, then back on the bus to head for the Skoura palm grove, where you'll pay a visit to the famous Kasbah Amerhidil and take a stroll through its beautiful Oasis, accompanied by a villager who will take you between its palm trees and introduce you to the life of the Berbers in this Atlas region. He'll tell you about their way of life, their customs and the nature of the work they do in the palm grove, with a demonstration.
Transfer to Boumalne Dades, where you'll spend your first night in a guesthouse (dinner and breakfast included).
Day 2 - 270 km
This morning, after breakfast, you'll head for the Merzouga desert via the route des milles Kasbah. En route, you'll make several stops, including one to contemplate the Todra Gorge and another in the town of Erfoud, which is the last stop before reaching the desert.
In Erfoud, you'll have free time for lunch and then explore a fossil workshop to witness the various stages of fossil extraction.
Once you've reached Merzouga, and after a few kilometers on the track, you'll reach the inn where you'll begin a 30-minute camel ride and spend the night in the tented bivouac.
In the evening, after watching the sunset and after dinner, the Tuaregs of the bivouac put on a little tamtam show around a campfire.
Day 3 - 590 km
After sunrise and breakfast, you take the bus back to Marrakech, stopping off in the town of Ouarzazate for a visit to the Ouarzazate film studios or the Taourirt kasbah, after free time for lunch.
NB: In Ouarzazate, you can only visit one of the 3 proposed tours!
This tour is offered with drivers who speak different languages (French, Spanish or English). You can choose your preferred language when you confirm your booking. To enhance the content of this tour, a guide is strongly recommended, to give you more explanations and information, and to take you to the various sites you'll be visiting, except for the film studio, where visits are made with a studio guide, for a tip.